COLUMN: ‘Now is the time to make changes to your game’

Prepare, practice and perform. Have you thought how you will prepare yourself for better golf next season, asks Craig Pollard.

It might seem a little premature to most but, with autumn in full swing, it makes perfect sense.

Think of all the rounds of golf you’ve played this summer, how many of those rounds can you identify as being free-flowing? Free of thoughts about your swing? Free of experimentation? It’s doubtful the number is that high, if it is though, well done! You’re one of a very small number.

The truth is that the autumn, winter, spring makes up a huge chunk of the year and is the perfect time to make changes or work on new things altogether. It’s the time to assess where you are and think about where you want to go. It’s time to make goals and figure out how you can achieve them.

It’s the time to work hard on your game.

The main areas of the game fall into these categories: long game (swing technique), short game (chipping, pitching, bunker play etc), putting, golf fitness, golf pyschology and equipment (making sure your equipment is made to measure for you and your swing). Which of these can you improve to play better golf next year?

The pay off from a winter of hard work is that you can go out and enjoy the game in the summer, practice simply becomes maintenance and you get to focus on the primary goal of the game - scoring better. This may lead to you winning the club championship, reducing your handicap or just winning the £1 more often in your regular fourball.

So, what do you need to make this happen? Firstly you need someone you trust and believe in to assess and recommend the best course of action. A PGA professional is qualified to help you reach your goals whatever they may be.

Of course I’m going to believe that Jack Lynch and I are capable of improving anyone’s game but I won’t be offended if you weren’t to seek us out, so long as you take some kind of action with someone YOU believe in.